For the past two seasons, Mike Caffey has led Long Beach State’s basketball team in most every way, including carrying more weight on his shoulders than, say, one of those jumbo jets that used to carry the space shuttle piggyback around the country.

The senior guard averaged 34.5 minutes a game in 2013-14 and was part of a regular seven-man rotation for Dan Monson, which is short by Division I NCAA standards.

In 2012-13, he was part of a six-man rotation, six players playing between 24 and 33 minutes a game.

Not once did Caffey complain about it. If anything, he took it as a challenge to carry the weight of Long Beach’s lack of depth, and not always to his personal benefit when he was cramping late in games and being swarmed by opponents knowing he was always Long Beach’s first and best option.

Those days are over. Long Beach State played Arizona State in a closed scrimmage last weekend and Monson used an 11-man rotation.

“We went 11 deep, and the guys who were 10 and 11 played well,” Monson said. “Mike only played 25 minutes and yet his production was off the charts.

“Our depth is a strength, and I’m already convinced of that. We’ve really solidified something that we haven’t always had available.”

Since Monson arrived, he’s usually gone with seven players as his core, the reserves lacking the right skills or not enough experience to be thrown into a close game late.

“It’s definitely a nice thing to have,” Caffey said. “There were times in the past when we didn’t get much help during scrimmages because we didn’t have a second team that could challenge us, or we’d split up and not practice together, which meant we weren’t gaining experience.

“I look at what we have out here and I feel confident of what we can do. The minutes everyone gets will be important because we feel confident that everyone out there can get the job done.”

This new-found depth is the result of six players who were in their first year last season now having a year’s experience – UCLA transfer Tyler Lamb, soph Travis Hammons, Branford Jones, back after missing his true freshman season with a broken leg and two JC recruits in David Samuels and McKay LaSalle.

To this now add the Fab Four freshmen – the school’s best recruiting class since Casper Ware and friends arrived as freshmen in 2009-10 – in Justin Bibbins, Jack Williams, Deontae North and Temidayo Yussuf.

There are also transfers with NCAA experience in Eric Knight from Florida Gulf Coast and two others who will redshirt but add considerable talent and depth to practice sessions, former Poly star Roschon Prince (USC) and Nick Faust (Maryland).

When the team opens the season Friday at BYU, it will start Caffey and Lamb at guard with Bibbins, Jones, North and LaSalle in reserve.

The forward starters will be some combination of Samuels, Hammons and McKnight, with freshmen Williams and Yussuf at the ready.

“When my dad coached (Don Monson, who had several fine years at Oregon), he didn’t want more than eight guys as part of his rotation, because he felt he couldn’t keep a larger group happy,” Monson said.

“The game is different now. It’s played at a different speed. You’re playing against big-name teams who do have a lot of depth, and you need to be able to match that.

“You can’t get through with just five to seven players. You need eight to 10 to endure what is a very long season.”

Everyone is pleased with the newcomers in general and overjoyed at the sense of confidence and teamwork the new group is displaying. Watching a 49ers practice in past years was a study in sulking faces as players complained about playing time, their role or being stuck on a bench.

No one likely will get stuck on the bench this year, and players smile when they know they have a role in the season forthcoming.

“We’ve added people at the guard spots who will complement us,” Caffey said. “We have some new bigs so we’re not depending on just one guy (as the team did the past two years in the departed Dan Jennings).

“The freshmen are all doing real well. I remember what it was like to play with Casper when they were seniors and how they had created a foundation for the program. I look at these guys and know they will do well right now and set a foundation for the next three seasons.”

The decision to redshirt Faust and Prince were made for Monson. The former came west from Maryland planning to work on his master’s, but not all of his classes were transferable, so he has to finish his undergrad work before he can play.

Prince lost a year, so to speak, at USC when we was underused by the coaches, and Monson said a year of working on his game and conditioning will be a plus. It also means that the 2015-16 team will have 11 players returning from the previous year, including Faust, Prince and 2013-14 starter A.J. Spencer, who is redshirting after breaking a leg in practice.

“They have us rated third best in the league,” Caffey said of the media voting for the Big West preseason. “Right there we have motivation to work hard.”